A Contemporary Christmas Playlist to Impress Your Party Guests

Having a Christmas cocktail party? Forget the cheesy carols 70s pop tunes and go for these savvy remixes of festive favourites.

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Acoustic Electro Swing Hiphop

Who would have thought electro swing and hip hop would make such happy bedfellows? Get your evening started with this top interpretation by Postmodern Jukebox.

2. Bad Religion - "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

This nu-punk adaptation is an unexpected yet musically flawless juxtaposition. A good party tune, and also a wise choice to kickstart your motivation when you’re getting the house ready.

3. Coldplay - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Love them or hate them, Coldplay do seem to have a talent for a Christmas tune. This is an inspired cover of the original, sung by Judy Garland in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis.

4. Pink Martini – We Three Kings

Funk meets easy listening in this savvy cover. Has a retro cocktail party feel, but in a good way.

5. No Doubt – Oi To The World

A punk-lite cover of an originally rather more full-punk interpretation by The Vandals.

6. The xx - Last Christmas

The xx have a knack for making just about anything sound cool. This is an acoustic rendition from the Radio 1 Live Lounge.

7. Weezer – O Holy Night

Weezer bring their post-grunge guitar-driven charm to John Rutter’s choral favourite. Weezer have covered several Christmas tunes and carols and their melodic style seem to work well with the genre.

8. Norah Jones – It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Norah Jones’ syncopated rhythms and soulful voice make for a perfect adaptation of this favourite carol.

9. Radiohead – Winter Wonderland

This totally shouldn’t work, but it does. Thom Yorke demonstrates that he can actually sing nicely if he wants to ;) It sounds so different to their usual stuff that I wouldn’t have been able to identify it as Radiohead.

10. Silent night - Sinead O'Connor

Maybe not so much a party tune. This rendition is so peaceful I think I could legitimately fall asleep to it. It could be a good one to play if you want those final straggling guests to suddenly feel sleepy and head home.